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Thursday, November 28, 2013

The origins of Thanksgivukkah - the only one we'll experience in our lifetimes - and back to our roots with "Heart to Heart".

Everybody knows that the Hebrew word for "thanks" and "turkey' are the same word, "Hodu" is the Hebrew word both for the
idea of to give thanks (Hodu l'Adonai ki tov, ki l'olam chasdo) and the
word for turkey (the bird Americans traditionally eat at their
Thanksgiving meal), AND it's what Israelis call the country of India
(Hodu), AND, in one of the most famous linguistic ironies in history,
Native Americans (who played the starring role as savior and deliverer
of the hapless and starving Europeans who showed up on their shores)
were called "Indians," because of course North America is what the
European explorers ran into when trying to sail west to the Far East.

Thanksgivukkah
also comes at a time in the Torah Parsha that a feast is discussed
(Yosef's brothers sat down to eat after they threw him in the pit,
thousands of years later the Jewish people would find themselves in
peril from the result of another feast - hence the story of Purim) and
that a famine causes starvation, and a wise ruler (Yosef) manages
resources to save his family and in fact the nation itself.

This week
American Jews who gather for Thanksgiving will be sitting down to a
feast in the midst of great peril (never has it been more obvious that
our government is not our protection) and the publicity that
Thanksgivvukah has already generated will make even the most
non-affiliated, non-connected Jew want to light Chanukah candles at dusk
(probably an hour or two after sitting down to the gigantic meal) and
by the lighting of Chanukah candles in the environment of food, family
and culturally institutionalized gratitude, some actual REAL spark of
Thanksgiving will ignite the hearts of the American Jewish people, who
will begin to burn with a holy fire of love and brother/sisterhood for
their fellow Jews and their fellow Humans of all kinds - gratitude
produces praise, and it is known that HaShem is enthroned upon the
praises of His People. So when else do we "enthrone" HaShem - Rosh
HaShannah, right? It's ALL CONNECTED, there are no calendar accidents,
time itself is a sacred lesson, and "once in a while you get shown the
light in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

Thanksgivvukah will be, in my opinion, the spark that ignites Neshamot
whose flames have been snuffed down to mere embers by the burden of
gashmi golus for so long.

With that in mind, we're relaunching "Heart to Heart with Lorelai,"Thursday at 6pm Israel time / 8am California time. "Heart to Heart" is Lorelai's eclectic half-hour showcase for intimate interviews with passionate people.

What's the criteria? "I'm always looking for people who "twinkle" at me because they're doing
something they're passionate about, something meaningful, something
that imbues them with vitality."(Lorelai).

WENDY KENIN is Lorelai's first guest on "Heart to Heart" - Thursday November 29th, 6pm Israel time / 8am California time. Wendy is founder of Imeinu Doulas and the Young Urban Moshav. She's also a passionate advocate for Jewish women, the rights of indigenous peoples, and the environment. Find out more about why Wendy "twinkles" and in fact, shines (apropos of Chanukkah, and both Lorelai AND Wendy are Kislev babies!)See how everything is connected? :)

Connect with us on Thursdays - Right after "Temple Talk" at 5pmIsrael time, "Heart to Heart with Lorelai" at 6pm Israel time, it's a great way to ease our way into what later becomes "Cookin' for Shabbos with Steve Levine" at 10pm Israel time ... just more of our great programming - the best music, talk & Torah 24/6 from Jerusalem (and Berkeley) to the World!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Lorelai's thoughts on the loss of one of the Reshonim of Israeli music -

Mourning Arik Einstein is also an experience of mourning an Israeli that exists only in memory - my Israel of 1974 and 1976, my Israel where there was only one TV station (which played IDF-Meets-Jack LaLane style calisthenics every morning in black and white), where the sound of feet crunching sunflower seeds beneath sidewalks was part of the hum, where a flock of sheep crossing the street in Jerusalem routinely stopped traffic, when a bathroom was a "Beit Shemush" and not a "Sherutim." My Israel that reached from Metulla and Rosh Hanikra to Sharm El Shech, when laying beneath the starry desert sky at Dahab was both safe and normal, when a walk through the Arab Shuk via Jaffa Gate promised bloody goat body parts hanging from hooks at every turn, when Mamilla was a respectably shabby slum instead of a glittering retail installation.

A more innocent time and place, look for it no longer, for it exists only in memory - and on video, and captured recordings - luckily for us.

What hasn't changed since the '70's is how much Israelis love Arik Einstein.

Israelis love to sing. They sing in what would be to the average American male, an almost embarrassingly uninhibited way, while doing normal things - walking down the street, driving a bus or a taxi, sorting mail, sweeping the sidewalks, etc. etc. Israeli men in particular are touching in this manner - especially the burly and testosterone-endowed amongst them, G*d bless them and thank you Ribbono Shel Olam for creating this particular strain of Israeli. The guy just sings to himself, going about his business.

There's not one amongst them that doesn't sing "Ani v'Ata" as part of his everyday repertoire. With the possible exception of Naomi Shemer's "Yerushaylim Shel Zahav" and of course, "Hatikva," there isn't a more iconic song for Israelis than "Ani v'Ata." In fact, may I venture to say that "Ani v'Ata" is to Israeli culture what Alaynu is to the Orthodox liturgy. Can't get through the day without it. It's in our blood.

Bibi Netanyahu nailed it when he said Arik's music was the soundtrack of our lives.

Arik died Erev Chanukah. Let's remember his light - the light of the Reshonim of Israeli music - like the Chanukah candles, will grow in brightness forever. You and I will change the world.

Write us at: radiofreenachlaot@gmail.com to suggest Torah teachers
we might be interested in featuring on our "Wild Card Wednesday"
(yesterday we had Tovia Singer and Rabbi Avraham Sutton, that was pretty wild!)

... and of course really, it goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: listen to us 24/6 at www.radiofreenachlaot.com - because Nachlaot is not JUST a neighborhood: It's a State of Mind.

Both Rav Sutton and Tovia Singer have been related to Radio Free Nachlaot since our earliest days - Lorelai made the original "shidduch" between Tovia and Rav Sutton when RFN first began broadcasting,
... and of course whenever Tovia is shopping for Shabbos, there's nowhere he likes to be more than Machanae Yehuda Shuk, buying freshly baked challot and the freshest salmon for his famous Shabbos Sushi.

So there you go. Another great Torah show at 5pm Israel time. Because you know we're all about the best music, talk & Torah 24/6 from Israel to the World - and even though we're triangulating a lot lately (first Tzfat, then Berkeley) our HOME, our ANCHOR LOCATION, is always and forever in Jerusalem, and thank G*d, Baruch HaShem, Steve Levine & Family are anchored to Yerushalyim and Undisclosed Studio B will always "B" THERE - no matter where Undisclosed Studio A roams!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

So ... as we've mentioned, we're adding a new Torah show to our regular lineup!

"Israeli Soul Afternoons" on Radio Free Nachlaot still begins at 1pm Israel time, and we still play the best Jewish and Israeli music of all genres - and now we're topping the afternoon off at 5pm Israel time with NA NAH NACHIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR: TORAH FROM NACHLAOT!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

25 Days until BLUES FOR CHALLAH!!!
L'kavod Radio Free Nachlaot's coverage of the BLUES FOR CHALLAH Grateful
Deadfest Shabbaton at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center,
we're giving away FREE DOWNLOADS of "The Best of Radio Free Nachlaot Live, Vol. 1" every day between now and December 11th! It's not too late to register for the event - visit this link: http://isabellafreedman.org/gratefuldead The RFN broadcast of "One More Saturday Night," 7pm Eastern Time on December 14th, is brought to you by JetBlue Airways
, our awesome and hip Travel Sponsor - give them some love, they
deserve it! If you've got to travel by air to get to the event, go
JetBlue! To claim your free download, send an email to:
radiofreenachlaot@gmail.com and tell us what gives you the Blues, and
what you do when you've got 'em!

Anyone who knew Shlomo, OB"M, remembers that Shlomo was always late! (It's funny that he is now refered to as the "Late Shlomo Carlebach.") Even if Shlomo came on time, until he greeted everyone in the room and returned or made a few phone calls, he never started on time. So, tonight's show Week 5 of the 9 Weeks of Shlomo will start sometime around 9PM - maybe even as late as 10:00. You see, Steve, the host of tonight's show won't be home until sometime after 9PM, and to have the show run by itself is not really the way we want to honor Shlomo. There are no "live" guests in the studio tonight, but the Live part of Sunday Night Live will be the introductions to the Shlomo pieces we're going to play, and to whatever might come to mind - music, outtakes and the like. We also have it on good authority that Steve doesn't want to miss the Shlomo Torahs, either!
So, here's the way it's going to go:
Starting at 7:00 PM - The Allman Brothers Band from last March at the Beacon Theatre, 3/15/13.
Shlomo when it's just the "right time" and then to make tonight extra special, after Sunday Night Live we will go back 43 years for Elton John's live in-studio recording titled: Elton John 11/17/70. Remember that one? How could you not????
So, The Allman Brothers meet Shlomo meet Elton John - sounds good to me.
C Ya on the Radio!!!!

Some of it will be entirely in Hebrew (for instance a Rebbe Nachman shiur by Rav Raz Hartman
), some will be in English.

Please note that simply because Lorelai can't
resist a pun (i.e. "Nah Nah Nachin'") that does NOT mean that the
programming will be entirely Breslov or even entirely Rebbe
Nachman-oriented. We love Rebbe Nachman and he will get his fair share,
and since he's a Tzadik he won't mind sharing the programming time with
other Tzadikim. These new Torah shows will be presented at 5pm Israel time Tuesdays and Thursdays. Listen and learn!

Another programming note: We'll be airing "Temple Talk" featuring Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven of The Temple Institute every Thursday at 5pm Israel time (a change from our previous time of 7pm so please make a note!) as well as Rabbi Richman's Parsha Shavua Thursdays at 1pm Israel time.

Radio Free Nachlaot: The best music, talk & Torah 24/6 from Nachlaot, Jerusalem's coolest neighborhood, to the world!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

We want to remind you about MAYA!Every Monday at 21pm Jerusalem time, Maya will be weaving her magical musical spell...Read all about it (and keep up with her!) on her blog MAYA's WORLD OF MUSICDon't forget, you can always share your love for music with her, on Facebook during her show!

GEVALDT, It's RFN's 4th Birthday!

Starting Year 5 off right ....

Steve Levine is live on the air in Jerusalem celebrating Radio Free Nachlaot's
Rosh Chodesh Kislev 4th Birthday - Lorelai be taking the radio 8am Monday,
Jerusalem time / 10pm Sunday California time, to continue the party,
and will be Skyping in Steve so "Papa Radio" and "Mama Radio" can simulcast a little bit and be
together for the bday celebration.

Listen at www.radiofreenachlaot.com
as we play "The Best of RFN Years 1-4" - and this is Week 3 of the 9 Weeks of Shlomo, and Steve is
planning on playing Reb Shlomo recorded live at a Sufi retreat! That
should be fun!

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